(Image source from: A fraud online site ripped off a man in name of renting house for vacation})

A man who was planning for a vacation got a shock when he realised that he has been cheated by a fraud online site. The man had opted for online rental services to book a house for his vacation. With a thought that he was communicating with the right person, the man had paid almost $6,000. By the time he realized, it was too late and he had to cancel his dream vacation.

Dave Thomas, the valley optometrist was looking to plan a trip to Hawaii this summer and used the popular website Air BNB to try and find a place for him and his nine friends to stay.

"Yeah we were looking, planning a trip to Hawaii, I've never been before, so it was a big trip," said Dave Thomas.
Once he found a perfect home of his wish, he didn’t even give a second thought before booking the house. The host of the site had asked him to send money for the same. At first Dave thought that was strange but trusting on the person he was talking to on the internet, he had transferred the amount.  

 “I was still a little bit concerned, but I thought I'm talking to a major, secure site like Air BNB, so I decided to take the plunge, pull the trigger, and decided to go to the bank and wire transfer the funds, which I did," said Dave.

But when he crosschecked to see whether his booking was confirmed or not, he was told ‘no reservation made’.

"I realized this was a scam, and that I'd been taken for nearly $6, 000," he said.

Air BNB is investigating the incident and has issued the following statement "Air BNB protects hosts and guests by handling all transactions through our secure payment platform. Guests pay through Air BNB when they book a listing, and hosts don't receive payment until at least 24 hours after guests check-in.”

- Smrutirekha